The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of olive tree, botanically known as Olea europaea L. of the Oleaceae family, and hereinafter referred to by the variety denomination ‘GIULIA’.
Olive oil continues to increase in popularity. Accordingly, there is a continuing need to develop new and improved olive oils to meet the increased demand for use in various food types and in cooking. Many olive varieties are self-sterile. As a result, there is a need for the development of new olive varieties which are self-pollinating and produce a high yield of new and improved olive oil for commercialization.
In order to meet these needs, the present invention is directed to a new Olea variety named ‘GIULIA’. The new Olea variety ‘GIULIA’ is a product of a controlled breeding program conducted by the inventor, Giuseppe Fontanazza, over the last twenty-five (25) years in the different climatic olive growing regions of Garda, Umbria and Molise, Italy. The objective of the breeding program was to develop a new Olea variety which expressed self-pollinating properties and was adapted for high altitude rooting (low temperature tolerance), high density plantations, an early production stage with a medium time of ripening, full mechanical harvesting, high productivity and high oil yield.
The controlled breeding program which led to the discovery and selection of the new Olea variety ‘GIULIA’, was conducted by the inventor, Giuseppe Fontanazza, in Perugia Italy, over the last 25 years and included 2 separate periods. The first, lasting 15 years and ending in 1995, focused on identifying potential, promising Olea progeny to study further; and the second, beginning in 1995, focused on asexually reproducing and trial testing a single, Olea variety selected from the potential, promising Olea progeny. Thus, the new Olea variety ‘GIULIA’ was first discovered and selected by the inventor, Giuseppe Fontanazza in 1995 from the progeny produced by means of mass selection, deriving from the embryos obtained by free-pollination of a large seed population of the Olea europaea L. variety designated ‘MORAIOLO’ (unpatented) growing in a cultivated area in Perugia, Italy. The new Olea variety ‘GIULIA’ was selected by the inventor based on the plant being self-pollinating and adapted high altitude rooting (low temperature tolerance), high density plantations, an early production stage with a medium time of ripening, full mechanical harvesting, high productivity and high oil yield.
Asexual reproduction of the new Olea variety ‘GIULIA’ by self-rooting of a vegetative cutting was first performed in May 1997 in Garda (a lake region of Northern Italy where the climate on the coasts of this lake is mild), and in April 1995 in Umbria and in May 1998 in Molise (two regions of Central Italy). Asexual reproduction of the new Olea variety ‘GIULIA’ has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for the new variety are firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction. The new variety reproduces true to type.